Michael van Gerwen secured his third successive European Tour event of 2016 after retaining his Gibraltar Darts Trophy with victory over Dave Chisnall at the Victoria Stadium on Sunday evening.
Van Gerwen averaged 103.69, recorded six maximums and produced three ton-plus checkouts, to defeat Chisnall 6-2 and record the eleventh European Tour title of his career in the process. Chizzy averaged 103.19 himself, although he was unable to secure his second European Tour title.
Chisnall kicked off the final with a majestic maximum, but Van Gerwen clinched the opening leg against the throw with a clinical 82 checkout. ‘The Green Machine’ then doubled his lead moments later with an effortless 107 checkout, but Chisnall reduced the arrears to 2-1 with a commanding 13-dart hold.
The St Helen’s star then levelled up proceedings with a fabulous 124 checkout culminating on the bullseye, although his joy was short-lived. MvG posted six perfect darts with back-to-back maximums, before pinning D18 for an 11-darter and an immediate break back.
The Dutchman was in rampant mood and extended his cushion with a ruthless 106 finish for 4-2. Chizzy produced a spectacular shot of 159 to leave D12 as he aimed to draw within a leg of the world number one, but Van Gerwen moved within a leg of victory with a stunning 124 checkout of his own, also on the bullseye.
‘Mighty-Mike’ recorded his sixth maximum of the contest to leave 47 after 9 darts and despite missing two tournament darts at D16, Chisnall wired the bullseye for an 81 checkout, and Michael converted D16 for a 13-darter, to clinch the title.
Earlier in the day, Van Gerwen kicked off proceedings with an impressive 6-3 victory against Mervyn King. King fought resiliently and posted a 101 average, but ‘The Green Machine’ fired in four maximums and averaged 105.73 to secure a quarter-final berth.
In the quarter-finals the world number one faced home favourite Dyson Parody, who defeated the likes of Dirk van Duijvenbode, Jelle Klaasen and Max Hopp to reach the last eight. Van Gerwen survived an enormous scare, coming back from 5-3 down to secure victory, after the Gibraltar star missed three match darts in the deciding leg.
However, the Dutchman endured no such struggle in the semi-finals, as he secured a whitewash victory over Kim Huybrechts, who had edged out Gary Anderson in the last eight. Huybrechts averaged 104 but wasn’t afforded a sniff, as the 27-year-old from Boxtel posted a 109.98 average to secure his place in yet European Tour final.
Dave Chisnall’s route to the final mirrored Van Gerwen’s to a large extent. The St Helen’s ace firstly won through an extremely high-quality last 16 tussle against Robert Thornton on Sunday afternoon. Chisnall averaged 110.58 and recorded five maximums to edge out the World Grand-Prix champion in a pulsating last-leg shoot-out.
Chizzy then secured his last four spot by virtue of another deciding leg victory, this time against Austria’s Mensur Suljovic. Suljovic led 4-2 after producing a sublime 142 checkout, but ‘The Yellow Peril’ demonstrated tremendous character as he fought back to 5-5.
Suljovic then spurned three match darts at D12, enabling Chizzy to return and pin that very double to complete a magnificent win with an average in excess of 108. ‘Chizzy’ then faced Ian White in the last four, after ‘The Diamond’ had edged out Peter Wright in a thrilling eleven-leg quarter-final clash.
However, White was unable to replicate the performance he produced against Snakebite, averaging a miserly 85.2. Chisnall took full advantage; recording his third successive ton-plus average of the evening to also register a 6-0 whitewash victory. However, he was unable to go one step better against MvG.
Peperami Gibraltar Darts Trophy
Sunday May 8
Afternoon Session
Third Round
Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Mervyn King
Dyson Parody 6-4 Max Hopp
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Benito van de Pas
Gary Anderson 6-2 James Wade
Peter Wright 6-2 Simon Whitlock
Ian White 6-2 Joe Murnan
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Robert Thornton
Mensur Suljovic 6-3 Michael Smith
Quarter-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Dyson Parody
Kim Huybrechts 6-5 Gary Anderson
Ian White 6-5 Peter Wright
Dave Chisnall 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Semi-Finals
Michael van Gerwen 6-0 Kim Huybrechts
Dave Chisnall 6-0 Ian White
Final
Michael van Gerwen 6-2 Dave Chisnall
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